May 03, 2010

AG Says Authorities Pursuing 'Good Leads' in NY Bomber Probe

Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said today the authorities are pursuing "good leads" and making "substantial progress" in the investigation of Saturday's attempted bombing in New York's Times Square.

Holder, addressing reporters today, declined to say whether any person has been questioned as a suspect in the investigation. He said the botched attempt to detonate a vehicle shows New York City remains a target for terrorist activity.

Holder noted that ordinary, common items can be transformed into potentially deadly bombs, drawing a reference to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. He said the government's intelligence reach must be broad.

"It means that we have to be constantly vigilant. It means that we have to never take anything for granted," Holder said at a press conference at a hotel in Arlington, Va., where the attorney general gave remarks today at the National Conference on Human Trafficking.

Addressing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Holder said it was "prudent" to dispatch two top officials, Ignacia Moreno and Tony West, to meet with responders. DOJ is part of the ongoing monitoring and investigation, the attorney general said.

"We are down there to try to ensure that BP be held liable for their responsibility for the spill that has occurred," Holder said.

Holder also criticized the new Arizona law that allows the police to stop and question a person on a reasonable suspicion that the individual is an illegal alien. He said the "potential for racial profiling is real," however well-intentioned the law might have been.

"The potential for driving a wedge between minorities and law enforcement is real," Holder said.